


Another Shadow

by Ruis



Category: Original Work
Genre: Assassination Attempt(s), Assassins & Hitmen, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-03
Updated: 2020-06-03
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:13:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,031
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24517477
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ruis/pseuds/Ruis
Summary: Another shadow was moving, a shadow that was not Tania.A young assassin prepares to murder the King when she discovers she is not alone in the room.
Relationships: Assassin/Rival Assassin who’s been assigned the same target (F/M)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 2
Collections: Original Characters & Original Works Flash Exchange May 2020





	Another Shadow

**Author's Note:**

  * For [nimble](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nimble/gifts).



Another shadow was moving, a shadow that was not Tania. She held her breath. This could not be! Not now, not tonight! (Who was there? And more importantly: did they know Tania was there, too?) She tried to tell herself it was just an imagination that the echo of her steps had been just the tiniest bit too loud, that only the draft had moved the curtains a finger’s breadth, but she knew better: she was not alone.

She had been preparing diligently for what was to be a true milestone in her career. Weeks ago, she had scouted this wing of the palace, disguised as a cleaning woman: she had learned early in her life that there is no place a cleaning woman cannot go, and to Tania’s quiet amusement even a king’s private chambers proved to be no exception. (Security was quickly forgotten, she mused, if it meant important men would have to empty their own chamber pots. His Majesty at least usually left a generous tip, not that it would save him.) 

She had studied her target’s habits. (He usually returned to his chambers late in the evening, sat down with a book and a glass of no doubt ridiculously expensive wine before retiring to bed around midnight: disturbingly normal behavior for one who wrought so much damage in the world.) She had prepared her weapons. (Four carefully polished and sharpened knives, one garrote, a shortsword in case things got ugly, poison in case of capture. She tried not to think too much about that.) Tonight, the king would die. But first… First she had to find out who exactly was keeping her silent company while she was waiting for her target.

There, that tiny movement of the curtain again! Tania immediately hurled the knife she’d instinctively been clutching ever since she’d sensed the other’s presence. (It was not a throwing knife. Tania chided herself for not bringing any projectile weapons, but then, who could have foreseen this situation?) Sure enough, she hit exactly where she had been aiming: a particularly ugly but probably heraldically significant lily embroidered in gold thread. (She vaguely wondered whether the gold was real. It probably was, she concluded. She hoped it had not dulled her blade too much.)

Quiet laughter sounded behind her. “Good aim.” (Male, Tania analyzed quickly. Cultivated laughter, carefully controlled. No accent she could discern. No fear in his voice, only genuine amusement. A man her age, probably educated, definitely dangerous.) “I would almost have believed your cleaning lady act, but this seems beyond the usual qualifications. Though of course if you are here for the reason I believe, I will concede how that could be called cleaning up.”

He was no secret palace guard, then, unless the king encouraged casual lese majesty among his followers. Small mercies, and all that. She held her hands out in front of her, away from her body, to show she had no intention of attacking. She only could hope that this stranger, who somehow had gotten the advantage over her, would do her the same favor. (She really wished for a good crossbow now, one that could be reloaded quickly: but no such luck, of course.) “I’m here for the same reason you are”, she replied, fervently hoping she sounded more confident than she felt. 

For a tense minute, nothing happened. Then, Tania heard steps behind her and turned around slowly. “Nice to meet you”, she added for good measure. (It wasn’t; but in her experience, being polite had never hurt anyone, not even in her particular profession.) For the first time, she got a good look at… the other assassin, she supposed, although the man wore no visible weapons. (Tania knew how easy and how important it was to wear at least a few hidden knives.) He was good-looking, she could not help but notice, to her own faint amusement. “Is it too much to ask for you to leave quietly and just let me do my job?” (She almost added “in peace”; recognized it as hilariously inappropriate just in time.) There was no way she would simply back down and let someone else claim the kill. Not when it was such an important, and lucrative, kill.

Incredibly, the stranger smiled at her as if this was just any normal social occasion. It was infuriating. “Nice to meet you, too. Usually I’d say ladies first, but as I’m sure you understand…” He even had the audacity to sound apologetic about it. “This is business only, nothing personal.”

“Fine”, Tania replied harshly. “Then how about a game? Winner gets the first stab?” Unless she was very much mistaken, this man was so sure of himself he might just fall for it. She could only hope he would also prove honorable enough to respect her victory. (And she fully intended to win, honorably or not.) 

“Wonderful!”, the man replied with a bright smile. “Who-gets-to-kill-the-king is my favorite game!” He then proceeded to take things out of his pocket. A deck of cards, two shabby dice that looked horribly out of place on the king’s nightstand… Had this guy planned to play a few nice games with the king before killing him? “What are the rules? Or rather…”, he grinned at Tania; it reminded her vaguely of a shark, “do we even need rules?”

It was probably the intensity of their game that saved both their lives. They were both playing to win, playing to outcheat the other… So much so that they never heard the king entering his quarters. (Tania was fuming. How dare this guy distract her, no matter how attractive, and where did that thought come from anyway?) Fortunately the king just believed his cleaning lady had gotten distracted during work. He never called the guard. (Of course he never expected such inept assassins, she knew too well. Tania could only hope the story never got out.) Oh, she was fired from that job, but strangely, she could live with that… And maybe, just maybe, she would take a certain someone up on his offer to continue their game elsewhere. She smiled and kicked her cleaning bucket into the castle moat.


End file.
